A Wedding at the Orange Blossom Inn(70)

When Emma heard her mother’s chair scoot back, she bit her lip to try to stay tough. But inside, her heart was aching. She truly didn’t want to have to choose between her parents and Jay. Especially not when their grandchildren were involved.

But instead of walking out the door, her mother walked to her side. “Emma, you know I don’t like arguing with you. However, I simply cannot help but think you are making a mistake.”

Emma turned to face her. “Why?”

“You are forgetting yourself. You already have been married. You were married to a gut man who loved you. You had a nice life with him.”

“I know all of that. Don’t you think I knew how blessed I was to have Sanford?”

“Then why would you even think of trying to replace your husband? God doesn’t give you two mates in life, dear. You are setting yourself up for heartbreak.”

“Mamm, I need you to try and see my point of view. I will always honor Sanford’s memory, but he is gone! Jay is a gut man, too. I need you to wish me well. Or, if you can’t do that, at least promise me that you’ll at least try.”

As her mother stared at her, little by little, all the love that she’d always shown Emma glimmered in her eyes. “I will try,” she said at last. “Because I love you, I will start to try.”

“Danke, Mamm. I love you, too.”

After giving Emma a quick hug, her mother muttered something about the time, picked up her purse, and walked out the door. Emma went to the window and watched her mother walk slowly down Kaufmann Avenue, her head bent. She looked sad.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Emma expected to feel justified and pleased that her mother had finally listened. Instead, she felt more confused than ever. Though she knew Jay was a wonderful man, a small part of her wondered if her mother had been right. Was it too much to ask for two successful relationships? Was she foolish to expect Jay to ever love her like he’d loved his first wife? Could she herself ever fall in love again?

Turning away from the window, she looked at the remains of the project she’d started. Though her mother hadn’t liked the task, she’d dutifully cut out the rest of the fabric. It was now arranged neatly on one corner of the table. Two completed place mats were on the arm of her couch. Scraps of fabric and thread littered the table and the floor near her sewing machine.

It all kind of looked like how her life felt: in disarray.

Maybe it was time to slow things down. Just to make sure she wasn’t making a terrible mistake, that she hadn’t simply latched on to Jay and his sons because she’d been so lonely.

Her eyes stung as she quietly folded the extra fabric, gathered the scraps and completed place mats, and stuffed them all in the sack from the fabric store. Then, before she could change her mind, she walked to her bedroom and shoved the sack under her bed.

Out of sight.

Only later did she realize that although she had indeed put it all out of sight, she had also opted to keep it close at hand.

AS HE APPROACHED EMMA’S house, Jay felt a hum of anticipation that he now understood went hand in hand with his visits to her. He was anxious to see the Keim girls. He missed Annie’s hugs, Mandy’s tentative smiles, and Lena’s shy welcomes. He missed Emma’s pretty face and sweet nature. Most of all, he’d missed the way he now only felt whole when they were nearby—each had truly taken a piece of him.

It was amazing how quickly the change had taken place . . . though maybe not.

Another two weeks had gone by but, as far as Jay was concerned, it might as well have been two hours. He was slowly discovering that planning a wedding took far more work for the father of the groom than he’d originally thought.

It was also far more nerve-wracking than he’d imagined it would be.

When he and Evelyn had gotten married, he’d been filled with the surety that what they were doing was the right thing. He’d been eager to have Evelyn by his side for the rest of his life. To be honest, he’d been looking forward to a lot of things about being married.

Now, as the groom’s father, though he rejoiced in his son’s happiness, he couldn’t help but worry about Ben and Tricia. A dozen questions continually floated through his mind: Were they too young? Had they known each other long enough? Were they compatible enough to withstand the hundreds of little adjustments that came with married life? Had they considered those pesky things called patience and compromise?

Jay simply wasn’t sure.

Though he was relieved that they’d visited with the bishop and the preachers several times. Jay figured if the leaders of their church hadn’t insisted that they wait longer to speak their vows, then their discussions must have been going well.